How to Make Amazing Red Velvet Cupcakes

This post, Amazing Red Velvet Cupcakes, is part of a Movie Monday blog hop. Be sure and visit the other blogs listed at the end of the post for more wedding movie inspiration.

What do Red Velvet Cupcakes have to do with movies? I’ll give you a hint. This month’s movie blog hop is celebrating wedding movies and my favorite wedding movie is Steel Magnolias. I’m ditching the armadillo and keeping the red velvet!

Steel Magnolias

If you’ve never seen Steel Magnolias (gasp!), grab a box of tissue, your favorite beverage, and a red velvet cupcake or two. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll fall in love with all of the characters.

I have a hard time naming my favorite cast member of Steel Magnolias. When you have to choose between Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Julia Roberts, Olympia Dukakis, Shirley McClaine, Daryl Hannah, and Tom Skerritt, it’s a toss-up every single time.

To give you a little background (no spoilers allowed!), here’s the deal. Steel Magnolias takes place in a small southern town. Yay for small southern towns and delicate, but strong, southern women!

“M’Lynn (Sally Field) is the mother of bride-to-be Shelby Eatenton (Julia Roberts), and as friend Truvy Jones (Dolly Parton) fixes the women’s hair for the ceremony, they welcome a helping hand from aspiring beautician Annelle Dupuy Desoto (Daryl Hannah). Diabetic Shelby has a health scare, which is averted but doesn’t bode well for her hopes of having children. Time passes, and the women and their friends encounter tragedy and good fortune, growing stronger and closer in the process.”

Did you know that Meg Ryan was first approached to play Shelby (Julia Roberts)? She declined in order to star in When Harry MetSally. I think it’s a win-win for all!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

In the movie, the groom’s cake is a red velvet cake in the shape of an armadillo. I’m skipping the armadillo and making red velvet cupcakes instead.

I’m southern, born and bred, and we’ve always laid claim to Red Velvet Cake. According to Cheesecake.com, The Adams Extract company attributes itself to making the “original” Red Velvet Cake in the 1920s. Currently, you can buy the mix from the company in its vintage packaging.”

The Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City also claims to be the birthplace of the Red Velvet Cake.

Either way, I grew up eating Red Velvet Cake with delicious Cream Cheese Icing and for this go-round, I’m making Red Velvet Cupcakes. I like having my own cake!

Make a paste of red food coloring and cocoa. Add cocoa mixture, vanilla, and buttermilk to creamed ingredients.

Sift flour, salt, and soda together and add to above mixture. Beat well. Fold in vinegar. Pour into two cake pans and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes in the pans on rack. Remove from pans and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla with mixer until blended. Add sugar gradually, beating after each addition.

Comments

Steele Magnolias is my favorite! I recently saw a local live theater production here in my city. That gray icing on that groom’s cake was gruesome. Red velvet is delicious. I haven’t made it in a while. Thanks for sharing.

Steel Magnolias a classic! We don’t have a habit of buying too many movies but Steel Magnolias is one to own for those movie nights at home! Red Velvet cupcakes are so much prettier than the armadillo!! Now I want to watch the movie again, with a box of Kleenex of course! It is a classic movie with a fabulous cast! I’m with you, it’s impossible to pick a favorite because they were all wonderful!! I love Julia Roberts in anything though.Shirley Wood recently posted…Our Deck Makeover Project

Steel magnolias is the perfect cry time movie (other than P.S. I Love You). I’m not a super fan of the cream cheese frosting most places use on the red velvets. Vanilla all the way!Katie Kinsley recently posted…3 FATHER’S DAY SUBSCRIPTION BOXES

Red velvet has to be some of my favourite cake, yet I have never been brave enough to attempt to make it myself. Your recipe is so easy to follow I hall have to give it a go.Sarah Bailey recently posted…Lookfantastic Wishlist

I forgot how much I love Steel Magnolias. I can’t think of a better treat to eat while watching it thank your red velvet cupcakes. I need to work on my frosting presentation to get the look of yours.Terri Beavers recently posted…Simple Clean Light Bathroom Refresh #MegaSummerRefresh

When my husband was in high school he came home from football practice and Steel Magnolias was on TV. He sat down, in his filthy uniform, and watched it and cried like a baby. He can never watch it again. My youngest keeps asking for red velvet anything.Heather @ Kraus House Mom recently posted…Beware of Deadly Objects

I have never tried red velvet before, but I’ve heard good things about it. This post is making me tempted to try it haha. Will have to look into this recipe and attempt to make some. Thanks for sharing! 🙂

I just love red velvet cupcakes so much. I have never made them myself before because I always thought the recipe was so complicated but you make it look like a piece of cake!Amanda recently posted…Where to Find Unique & Meaningful Wedding Gifts

Just looking at these I am thinking that I need to make them for Canada Day! They would be perfect. Even better considering I am a huge red velvet fan. I don’t get to eat it much anymore with my diabetes though.

Love that you picked this movie for this month’s hop, I LOVE Steel Magnolias. I’ve seen it a million times and I still cry every time! (And I’m not a crier.) These cupcakes look much yummier than that grey armadillo cake, haha!

I am not a big fan of Red Velvet. But, this recipe has singlehandedly and immediately changed my opinion of Red Velvet Cake. Till now I didn’t find anything memorable about it and wondered why Red Velvet Cake was so popular – it wasn’t much on flavor, frankly. But, it is fluffy, pleasantly sweet and chocolaty. Bonus that a very good cream cheese frosting recipe is included. I am going to try this for sure. 

Your red velvet cupcakes look perfect! I love the perfect red color. Others seem a bit darker, but I like yours the best. Steel Magnolias is one of my favorite movies. I love how it shows real women, their raw emotions and their knack for helping each other out.

When I realized the movie, these cupcakes are perfect! Steel Magnolias is literally one of my faves. I love Shirley Maclaine and Olmpia Dukakis. We can sell t-shirts that say I slapped Ousier Boudreaux!Stephanie of The TipToe Fairy recently posted…Total Closet Reorganization with Ziploc®

These are nothing short of gorgeous! And I’m trying these out. My MIL’s BD is coming up, and red velvet is her absolute favorite!Kristen from The Road to Domestication recently posted…Come Tour the House We Sold

These cupcakes look soo good!! Red velvet is my favorite! I still remember when I was about 7 years old my aunt made a red velvet cake and I was heavenly!Nikka Shae recently posted…Experience Authentic Japan at Nakato

Thank you for posting this recipe! I tried making these cupcakes and something didn’t turn out quite right. They are okay but definitely not great. I’m not sure where I went wrong.

The cake is a mild red velvet flavor. The aftertaste is more red velvety than the actual bite. Could I have accidentally over beat the batter? I also bought Fred Meyer brand food coloring rather than splurging on the expensive stuff. Could that be why?

The frosting was definitely had too much of a cream cheese flavor. I had to add a 1 1/2 cups more powdered sugar and 2 more teaspoons of vanilla extract to sweeten it up.

Thank you again for posting this recipe. I’m going to go back and try it again another time.

Hmmm – As far as the cream cheese frosting, the sugar it calls for (3 cups) is almost an entire box of powdered sugar and it’s always perfect for me – I don’t like overly sweet frosting and I love for the cream cheese flavor to stand out. As far as the cake part, I don’t think the type food coloring should matter. Let me know if they turn out better for you next time.

I use the sour cream and milk in place of buttermilk/vinegar in this recipe. My recipe for red velvet CAKE (very old recipe) calls for buttermilk AND vinegar so I’ve always made it that way. I don’t think the cupcakes need the additional acid the vinegar provides so I don’t use vinegar in this recipe. You could definitely add 1/2 tablespoon of vinegar if you’d like.

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Hi! I'm Alli - wife of one, mom of 5 and nana of 5. I'm a southern cook who loves to share recipes, entertain family and friends and travel to the Caribbean at least once a year. Becoming a beach bum is high on my to-do list!

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